Robert Gates Talks Security in Tulsa

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaks at the Mabee center as part of the Tulsa Business Forums.

He talked about this week’s presidential debate, and said that while it’s true that our military's technological capabilities are far greater today than in the past, “we do have these replacement costs coming up, we do have these replacement programs for some of these ships.”

Those include ships in the Navy’s fleet that were built during the Regan era.

He added that the Navy “would like to build 313 ships.”

The current fleet consists of only about 285 ships.

He also spoke about the critical vulnerability of cyber security.

He says, despite concerns about privacy and civil liberties, we can’t wait for the creation of a new agency to deal with the cyber threat.

“My argument all along was,” he said, “there isn’t enough time, there isn’t enough money, and there isn’t enough human capital to replicate what the National Security Agency does.”

Gates spoke to reporters before the event. Click above to listen to three of his answers to reporters’ questions during the session.